My 6 Minute Plank Routine for Runners and Wanna Know What’s Better…

Happy Wednesday! Brooke and I spent some time with my mom yesterday afternoon which is always a good thing. PS My dad painted the picture on the wall… he is pretty incredible!

Watch out mom, Brooke is now tall enough to pick off the apricots from the tree.

Fun fact—> This weather is all over the place these days. One minute it is sunshine and the next minute it is raining and crazy windy.

See… ten minutes later it is all sunshine. PS maybe eventually I won’t post so many pictures of us together on the blog but just humor me for a little bit longer:)

Dinner was at Outback and as you know I have a deep obsession with sweet potatoes topped with chicken, avocado and bbq sauce… well, I found something better. Turns out a sweet potato topped with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon tastes like a dessert. Beyond good.

Dessert—> some chocolate chips from the random bag of them in my purse (PS if you haven’t tried Guittard chocolate chips are the best).

People are getting their shirts (they are on sale again because they were requested again!) in the mail and it is making me really happy! Looking AMAZING Lindsey!

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Planks—> I’m a huge fan of them (well… not the during part but the benefits I gain from doing them). I love multitasking and I feel like the plank is a great way to multitask because you are strengthening your hips, internal and external obliques, back, glutes, rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, shoulders and I even feel it in my quads sometimes while I plank!

Three things about planks before we get started:

*I used to always clench my hands when I would plank BUT Meg had me start placing my hands flat on the ground during a plank and it definitely makes it a little bit more challenging, try it out!

*I am LOVING this Interval Timer (it’s free too:) app that I found for my phone when I do different strength workouts…. you can set how many intervals, the length for each interval and it beeps at the end of each interval so you can move to the next thing!

Here is the workout that I’ve been doing the last few weeks and I am definitely feeling stronger because of it so feel free to try it out!

PS I usually take 1-2 breaks during this workout but my goal is to get strong enough to do the whole thing without stopping:)

Here is a little video with my favorite workout buddy to show you the different planks!

58 comments

I love sweet potatoes with a little bit of sea salt if I’m going savory and if I want sweet you can’t get much better than butter and brown sugar! It is like dessert!

The goal is to do a garden next year once our house is finished and the outside doesn’t look like a construction zone! I will likely still do some herbs this year though! Weather here has been nuts too. We’ve been getting a ton of rain, which is great, but then its hot, then it’ll get pretty cold and we’ve had lots of tornado warnings!

Plank Jacks! I’ve never heard of those before, I’ll need to give em a try! The app too, I always just use the timer app on my phone and constantly re-set it.

I looooove those sweet potatoes at Outback, you are right they taste like dessert! YUM! I think almost anything goes well on top of sweet potatoes, they are so versatile and make everything taste better.

Sweet potato with butter and brown sugar used to be my “dessert” back when j did weight watchers (the core program). So good.
I ran last night after work so today I’ll take a rest day.
Where I live there used to be wild blueberries. My mom and I would walk here and eat them on the walk back. But now 35 years later they are all gone and houses have been built up instead.

I am a huge fan of potatoes, and I love them topped with chicken, avocado and either BBQ sauce or ketchup. And CHEESE. There MUST be cheese. Parmesan cheese on top tastes absolutely delicious!! You know what else is good to top it off? Nuts of some sort (peanuts or almonds are always winners) or Cheetos. :)

Thanks for the planking workout ideas! I usually just do normal planks, so this will help add some variety!

I used to like to top my sweet potatoes with cottage cheese and cinnamon. it’s the simple things. a little sweet a little salty and a whole lot of yum.

I’m a fan of the Nike Training Club app and charity miles. Charity Miles isn’t really a workout app, but I like to know that the miles I’m logging running and walking are actually making a difference. it’s free and you donate .25 cents per mile to a charity of your choice. it’s super awesome.

Mel_OUTRUN_CF

Today was supposed to be one of my last training run before half-marathon this week-end but guess what? I’m lying on the bathroom floor with fever and a stomach bug! I knew you would understand! ;-) First stomach bug in 7 years…talk about timing! Like you always say: there are always other races. And the training I did all winter and spring didn’t suddenly vanish (although it does feel like that right now!). I like seeing pictures of you and your guy, your happiness is contagious ;-)

That sweet potato looks amazing! I am pretty sure you can top anything on a sweet potato and it will taste good ;) And I am definitely going to have to try out that workout — always need to up my plank game!

That sweet potato looks and sounds incredible!! As much as I dislike planks, they are an awesome workout, so I will definitely try your routine! I use Garmin/Strava for running of course, and then Fitbit to track my daily activity (Fitbit is the most addicting thing once you get friends involved). Today’s run will be a group run with some fellow runners in town!

I’m happy to see the pictures of you two because it means you are super happy! I hate planks but I do them anyway lol. Pure barre has me doing the darn planks at least 3-4 times a week. I will admit I’m getting much better at them but still, don’t think I like them!

This plank routine looks fabulous, I can’t wait to incorporate it into my routine!
I agree, I love potatoes. I love roasting my sweet potatoes with coconut oil or olive oil. I also add seasonings like garlic powder, chili powder, salt, and parsley. I usually eat them like “fries” and eat them with ketchup, cottage cheese, or hummus.
Favorite regular potato toppings? Butter and salt, salsa, avocado, cheese, etc. (not all together obviously.) ;)
As for my run: I plan on running four miles today- in the humidity. Fun, fun.

I pretty much love all things on a sweet potato, except chili, that wasn’t very good ;-)
Fitness apps: seconds, shoe cycle, run journal, pacecalc
We have a strawberry garden but no fruit trees :( Our friends just bought a property at the beach with an amazing avocado tree! They are literally building their house so that they can keep the tree!
Today was an easy 5 before the sun came up :)

MaryM

I like any type of cheese on my sweet and regular potatoes. Bacon or bacon bits on regular potatoes. Maple syrup on sweet potatoes. Basically whatever I have in the fridge!
My mom and I planted a garden together this year. We have spinach, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, and basil!
Today was a nice 4 mile run (first run back after half Sunday) with my dog in my new Pearl Izumis followed by some suicide sprints!

The weather IS all over the place! Rain then pure heat and sunshine!
Potato toppings as followed: #1 coconut butter + cinnamon, #2 tahini, #3 any nut butter + cinnamon, or if you want a non sweet potato variety stuff a baked potato with ketchup or honey mustard :P For real!

Wendy

I am just starting to add sweet potatoes into my diet. I am loving them with avocado and grilled chicken, with a little pepper :)
Thank you for sharing the plank workout! I love doing planks for the reasons you mentioned above!
I have a 5.5 mile run this morning, with lots of hills!! It’s one of my favorite routes!

I’m loving the pictures of you & the BF. Keep them coming!!! And I totally need that app. I do a lot of interval workouts and have always wanted something like this to time myself but never had the time to look into it. You did the work for me!

I need to get back to doing planks more but I usually dread them after like 1 minute or so haha. I LOVE avocados and barbecue sauce on top of roasted sweet potato slices. Yummm I could eat that everyday of my life:)

And my favorite fitness app is the Nike Training Club one. Whenever I’m not sure what to do strength-training wise that’s my go-to resource.

Runs lately have been a plethora of stomach problems/ dead legs/ headaches. You know what that means? Mental training for race day and life! My run today was balancing not going overboard with the mileage and not going under board with assuming “I can’t do it because I feel XYZ”. Some pretty dope life muscles are being built, here ;)

Also, no shame in the boyfriend pics! Own that ish ;)

Kiara

My mom makes a sweet potato casserole to die for!! It’s mashed sweet potatoes, marshmellows, thinly sliced or cubed apples, and cinnamon! I could eat this every day! However, she only makes it on Thanksgiving haha

And no run for me today! Just reformer pilates! Which always helps me for my run the next day.

And don’t apologize for the boyfriend pictures! We love seeing you happy!

love sweet potatoes — a little brown sugar and cinnamon goes a long way for sure. also crushed pecans sound like they’d be a fab addition to that combo! i ran 6 miles this am and felt great – starting to get really humid and hot in NYC but this morning was beautiful! love the pics of you and the boy so happy – i can totally relate to that “this is my person and we’re so in love and everyone just smile along with us for now while i go photo-happy” stage…which i think might just never end. :) enjoy!!

The Silent Assassin

You two look great together :) And Brooke is adorable as always! Thanks for the plank routine – I’m starting up again today. I ran my 7th marathon on Saturday and I am taking a week or two off of running.

Victoria

I have zero core strength so need to motivate myself to incorporate planks… Will try this!

No run today .. Just got back from the doctor’s who confirmed an ankle strain with possible stress fracture. So, missing my half on Sunday. I’m so sad. People keep saying “there will be more” or “it’s not a big deal”. But as I’m sure you know, it is. Sigh. Gotta keep my head up

I don’t think I’ve found the right way to cook a sweet potato haha everytime I’ve tried it, it was a failure :(. I’ll try it again until it works haha. Also, can’t wait to try the plank routine and Brooke is so tall now !! She’s too cute :)